Thursday, 7 August 2008

On......a return to the organized bedlam of Lagos

The first thing is always the humidity. Dense and sultry. Lagos-by-the-sea. Where no breeze dare ride freely for fear of being hit by an okada driver. Baggage collection is much improved with two separate halls divided by a Pyrex screen. Another flight has just landed but at no point do we have to go and check the conveyor belt in the other hall for misplaced baggage.

The long journey home. I am bracing myself to confront the traffic. The smallest things provide the greatest details. There is a small goat tottering across the motorway that leads from the airport. I wonder what it aims to do when it reaches the other side. If its entrails have not mingled with the motorway by then. The biggest road problem remains the bikers and okadas. Mechanical bees. They swarm around your car, coming from all directions, threatening to sting at the slightest provocation. There appears to be no law about what an okada can and cannot carry. I intend to set up a photo log displaying the varied passengers I have seen on the back of an okada. Today there is one carrying two passengers. Hardly noteworthy, aside from the fact that the second passenger is one half of a dead cow.

Businesses continue to thrive. Everywhere one looks there is the ubiquitous florescent green banner that proudly advertises some business or the other. Whoever creates those banners must be making a killing. One such sign for a charity bemuses me. Motherless babies. I wonder if there isn’t a good chance that the babies are not also fatherless babies. And if not why don’t they just call the thing an orphanage. It is only a euphemism of course but motherless babies always sounded a bit too cruel somehow. A bit too Dickensian.

Governor Fashola is doing a good job. Ask any one on the street and he will tell you. For the first time as far as I can remember, there are discernible changes in the way Lagosians are living. Actually, strike that. For the first time, there is a discernible positive change in the way Lagosians are living. The Molues are gone. There are proper bus stops. People are queuing. I am amazed. Many overhead bridges and walkways are now protected against the elements. I hope this will mean fewer deaths from breakneck pedestrians trying to cross a motorway when an overhead bridge is one foot away.

The mechanised tentacles of construction and redevelopment are spread right across the city but still too concentrated on Lagos Island. The mainland is still far and away it’s poorer cousin. Urban improvement is less visible in Yaba and Surulere than it is in Victoria Island and Ikoyi. It is still a tale of two cities. I know Islanders who do not venture into the Mainland unless they are going into the airport. If one thinks this is a class thing then consider that there are just as many Mainlanders who would rather prostrate naked on a bed of scorpions than live on the Island.

As we enter the island I notice the traffic in the other lane. It is the same traffic that I have been noticing since the Third Mainland Bridge. I wonder what time those at the tail end of the traffic will reach their loved ones. And what time they will need to set off again in the morning. I fear the effects of the partial closure of the Third Mainland Bridge. It will be two months of great difficulty.

Asda and Walmart killed the trader. We stop at the Palms and Shoprite is fantastic. You can find anything and everything at reasonable prices. There is a suya man there buying huge quantities of meat. I ask him in Hausa why he does not buy his meat in the market. He says that whilst the meat is still slightly cheaper in market, the cost of transportation there and back removes any actual savings. How long before there is a Shoprite in every corner of town? How long before they start squeezing prices and forcing small traders and middle men out of the equation? The cost of a carton of juice is twenty naira cheaper in the market than in Shoprite.

I am so happy to be back. It has been fourteen years now since I have lived here, disregarding holidays in between. Fourteen years. More than enough time to spend in any one place I reckon. These days you get less than that for murder. I will give myself ten years here then let us see what happens. America perhaps would be the next great adventure. Gosh, I will be 40 then. Where does the time go? I aim to have fun. I left Jand because I stopped having fun. There will be disappointments strewn across the road in front of me. Tragedy even. But I will hurdle each one and continue running. Let us meet at the end.

150 comments:

You've relocated! Wow, you kept that one on the DL, dude. I remember you echoing your sentiments about moving on from jand in response to a post i did on 'itchy feet' many moons ago...Way to follow thru!!!! All the best tho', and pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeese do not stop blogging. It will be nice to have your refreshing take on day to day Lagos life.

One last thing...What's Hausa for 'market'? That's how vivid your post was - i was trying to imagine you asking the suya guy why he didn't buy his nama in the market, but for the life of me, i cant recall the word!

finally!!! you put a post..Lagos is a truly remarkable city, and even if I'll argue to death with any of these Lag peeps, that PH isn't as bad as they like to put it, I'll always agree that Lag is a more fun and interesting city.Like that your sought of nomadic (i.e 10-14 years in one place, that counts o)

"America perhaps would be the next great adventure. Gosh, I will be 40 then. Where does the time go? I aim to have fun. I left Jand because I stopped having fun. There will be disappointments strewn across the road in front of me. Tragedy even. But I will hurdle each one and continue running. Let us meet at the end."

- we will be here waiting for you at the airport, seaport or as you jump the fence in Arizona.

awwwh welcome back!! to Naija..and to your blog! been waiting for an update for quite a while..

lmao@ "Today there is one carrying two passengers. Hardly noteworthy, aside from the fact that the second passenger is one half of a dead cow."..i really do think you should do the photoblog thing on the things okada people carry mehn, cuz the things i've seen?/! ha, a whole flock of chickenens, several goats, bags of stuff bigger than the passenger, rider and bike put together..and on and on...

i loved this... i envy your spirit...you stopped having fun in london so you chose to leave...you chose to go home...'falling leaves return to their roots' indeed. i 2 want to head back home...i pray it will be soon

in 10 years you will be 40...yes as you say… 'There will be disappointments strewn across the road... Tragedy even.'

A22 that is life...not just life in nigeria.

The fact that you have chosen to 'hurdle one... and continue running' is a a good choice...a great mindset...for life

Here i will advise you to laugh and not lament when comparing what was and what is!

i hope you continue to change & grow positively as Nigeria changes & grows positively. I hope you are part of the many that are key in bringing about the latter; therefore, allowing the change to go on in a never ending circle

I wish u success...

p.ssomehow i don't think you'll leave permanently again after 10 yrs...but maybe you will...in the end we shall see ;-)

@ Shubby: I always appreciate your comments as they are consistently insightful. We cannot legislate for disappointment but we can certainly overcome its inevitability. Ten years? We will see. I too have a feeling that I go still dey sha.

@ Geisha: LOL. You cant get rid of me so easily o. I will still be here

@ NDQ: Thanks my sister. I go try. I love Abuja but where is the soul? It is like comparing New York and Toronto. One is cleaner and more organised but I know where I would rather be.

Ah Atutu don jabo jand?! Just as i got here....tsk tsk. "Welcome back" o, I'm sure Naija will/has received you with open arms. I hear the new phrase all over the place is "re-pat", and you fall into that category so learn to embrace it ;)

Can't wait to hear all about your adventures. And pls salute Fashola if/when you see him!

atutuuuuU! where are you now? what has Lagos done to you? you came back and haven't even given us a three line post sayin that you're all right..missssssin your posts o!..and gettin rather concerned :P

Well done! Last month, I made the move back to Lagos after living in the UK for a while, I'm having the time of my life!

Notwithstanding the poor infrastructural facilities- NEPA et al- I will scream from the rooftops of my home in Surulere whilst clicking the heels of my ruby slippers three times a la Dorothy,"There is no place like HOME"

Toots honey, how are you enjoying Lagos? This is so strange that we both moved back here roundabout the same time. And I moved for exactly the same reason - I stopped having fun in London. Lagos has been fantastic though, has it been as good to you? I sincerely hope so. I am enjoying myself so much I have begun to grow paranoid that the bubble will soon burst.

I set up a new blog to document the transition. Look me up when you have the time/power supply :)